When In Rome
by Acayanna
Summary: '...do as the Romans do.' Replace Romans with Incurseans and Ben could definitely identify with the sentiment. Now if only Attea would stop trying to steal his DNA and make him her permanent trophy frog, then everything would be fine. Attea/Ben.
1. Chapter 1

I'm new to the Ben 10 fandom but I've been wanting to write for it for the past few years now. Fun fact, this story was in the works before Catfight, but after The Frogs of War Part 2. I wanted to see Attea/Ben and since I couldn't find it, I decided to make it. I just haven't been able to shake my reluctance or find a beta. But here I am. If I find a beta, that's cool. If not, that's cool too.

Now that I've said my piece, enjoy the read. :)

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><p>…<p>

Benjamin Tennyson liked to think he was a relatively simple guy. He loved the things most teenage boys did; eating chili fries and drinking smoothies, watching tv, sleeping, cute girls and very very fast cars.

Of course, he was considered perfectly normal if one forgot to consider one little detail: the Omnitrix nestled snugly on his left wrist. Once that little figure was added to the equation, then things got a whole lot more complicated, what with the fact that it allowed a not-quite mature 16 year old human boy to turn into over a million species of sentient alien lifeforms. And that he had been protecting his home planet (and sometimes the whole universe) since he was a ten year old.

Currently though, Ben was enjoying one of his all time favorite activities: watching Sumo Slammers Classic.

"It's slammer time!" Ben squealed in a decidedly unmanly way.

"Go, Ishiyama!" he cried, giving the tv a giddy little fistpump as he wriggled with the pure glee only a true fanboy could generate. "Kick his butt!"

A sudden beeping sounded from the reclining teen's wrist, making him groan in frustration. Just when he thought he'd get to enjoy a little quiet rest and relaxation. A sharp tap on the Omnitrix opened the communicator function.

"What's up," Ben said unenthusiastically, his eyes still glued to his television screen. No way was any Plumber business gonna pull him away from this; it was _classic_ Sumo Slammers for crying out loud!

"Ben, Magister Tennyson is requesting your presence at headquarters within the hour," came his partner's stiffly formal voice.

Ben groaned. _Just_ _perfect_.

"Aww, come on, Rook! Can't it wait? This is my favorite episode of classic Sumo Slammers and it'll be ages before they show another marathon!" He whined.

Rook Blonko, one of the best plumber rookies to ever graduate the academy sighed at his partner's response. Ben knew that Rook stilll didn't quite understand how Ben could have ever saved the universe with his mannerisms and lackluster approach to responsibility. Luckily, he had been Ben's partner long enough to see the serious side of Ben; which is exactly why they got along so well now.

"I do not think it is wise to make him wait, Ben. I believe it is imperative that you-"

"-take the hero business more seriously," Ben interrupted, already impatient with Rook's impending lecture. "Blah blah blah, responsibility and honor. Yeah, yeah, I get it, Mr. Killjoy, I'll be there."

"Mr. Killjoy? That is _not_ my-"

Having said his piece, Ben shut off his communicator before Rook could finish questioning his phrase. The young hero gave a low groan as he thumped his head on his bed a few times before reluctantly rolling off the mattress to grab his car keys and shrug into his customary white and green-striped jacket.

It never freaking failed. Every time he wanted some time to himself, someone needed him to save the universe or get some little girl's cat out of a tree. With a pout, Ben gave his tv a final wistful stare before shutting it off.

Ben tromped down the stairs two at a time, his loud thumping and quiet grumbling eventually drawing his mother's attention from the kitchen, where she had quietly been washing the dishes from breakfast.

"Ben?" Sandra Tennyson inquired, one of her blonde brows raised. Sandra was a calm, soft-voiced woman who spent most of her time trying her best to ensure that her only son was as healthy as possible. From the day of his birth, Sandra had always been there, trying her best to make sure her baby boy (her words, not his!) would grow up big and strong; the circumstances of his premature birth had terrified his mother and father so much that she had openly admitted to smothering him as a young child, but she had just been doing what she felt was best.

Ben knew that his daily escapades fighting aliens and risking his life for the Earth only made her job harder, but she was also a firm believer in allowing him to live life on his own terms and with his own beliefs and principles. She would never even dream of trying to restrict Ben again after that one time she and his father had forbidden him from all Plumber work. The house simply wouldn't be able to handle it with all the new and even more destructive alien forms he had recently acquired anyway.

While she wouldn't hold him back, it was still fairly obvious that she was expecting him to tell her where he was headed to, but he honestly didn't feel like explaining right now. Besides, he couldn't really tell her anyway since he had no idea himself and didn't really _care_ at the moment.

"Plumber stuff, Mom," Ben retorted, waving her off. "Be back when I can."

The older woman nodded in grudging acceptance at his offhand answer as he jerked open the door before a belated thought occurred to her. "It's _Sandra_, honey! Honestly, Ben is it so hard to address me by my name, honey?"

"Still not happening, _Mom_," he called over his shoulder with a genuine smile before he closed the door behind himself.

….

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><p>Plumber Headquarters was just as it always was; fast-paced, busy, and crowded with all manner of alien species. Interstellar alarms and alerts were flashing at various consoles while several monitors quietly beeped as they surfed the Extranet. A few prisoners grumbled as they were marched to the cell block and Ben grinned at a glaring Psyphon as he passed by.<p>

"Yo, Ben!"

"What's up Benny Boy!"

"Afternoon, Hero!"

"Tennyson, looking good!"

Ben waved back absently to the team escorting Psyphon away as he continued on towards his destination. He had long since grown used to such greetings and automatically responded in kind. Right now though, his mind was on more important matters; namely what was so darned important that Grandpa Max couldn't possibly wait until _after_ the Sumo Slammers marathon to bug him about.

The sound of footsteps falling into synch with his own drew his attention, and Ben actively tuned into his surroundings as he glanced to the side at his sudden companion, a pale blue-furred alien with catlike facial features. "Rook," he acknowledged with a grin. "How's it hanging partner?"

The Revonnahgander returned the greeting with a faintly bemused smile, his orange eyes focused on the hallway ahead of them. "Everything is 'hanging' well, Ben."

Ben shook his head wondering how Rook could still be such an uptight boy scout after being his partner for so long. He definitely needed to break the guy of that one day. Maybe he should send Rook off with Kevin for a few days.

Oh wait. That hadn't ended so well last time.

_Nevermind_.

"So, any idea what this is all about?" he asked after what seemed like an eternity of silence. He blinked the spots out of his green eyes as the retinal scanners took his iris signature and granted him access to the debriefing room after a faint mechanical beep. It seemed as if the Plumbers had learned from their past security breaches and were implementing more safety measures.

Thank Azumuth for that. Literally.

"I do not know," Rook admitted with a stern frown, following closely in his wake. "Normally Magister Tennyson informs me of our missions beforehand, but he did not say much this time, just that it was important."

Ben just rolled his eyes. "Typical Grandpa for you," he muttered. "The old guy loves the cloak and dagger stuff a little too much."

"Cloak and dagger?" Rook wondered, his nose wrinkled in curiosity. "What does Magister Tennyson's love of cloaks and daggers have to do with our mission briefings?"

Ben sighed in annoyance before giving his partner a condescending pat on the shoulder. "Dude, you really need to just take a week off and hang on the internet and soak up all the Earth lingo you can."

Rook frowned at Ben but before he could reply, the sound of another door opening reached their ears, catching the attention of both junior Plumbers.

Max Tennyson's large form sauntered through the doorway, his face lined with worry and his brows creased into a frown as he contemplated a holoviewer file settled in his palm. Then he looked up and the severity seemed to melt off his face as he caught sight of Ben's annoyed face and Rook's respectful one. "Rook! Ben! You're right on time today, boys!"

Even if he was annoyed beyond all belief, Ben couldn't possibly stay mad in the face of Max's cheerful disposition. "What's up, Grandpa Max?" he asked with a grin as Max joined them.

The larger man reached out to ruffle Ben's shaggy brown hair and chuckled at his grandson when the boy squinted in annoyance at the rough treatment of his pride and joy. Max grinned as Ben huffily backed away and tried to fix his hair with a whined, "Grandpaaaa!"

Amused Max merely smiled as he pulled another holoviewer from his pocket and indicated that Rook take it. The blue-furred alien did as he was prompted and activated the device, his features already intensely focused on the bright light of the imagery flickering within his palm. After a moment, Ben's natural curiosity kicked in and he sidled closer for a better look.

A small figure appeared on the screen, its form cloaked and hidden but for the thin gap baring glowing silver irises with strange spiral pupils.

"Greetings, Plumbers. I am D'Styania de Takiyonus of the Takiyon Empire in the Andromeda galaxy," the hologram began in an androgynous voice. "This message is only capable of being activated via the Plumber database's unique power core frequency. You need not fear any interception."

The hologram flickered wildly and shook, indicating some type of turbulence occurring during the filming. Ben glanced at both his partner and his grandfather; the grim looks on their faces indicated that they had guessed the same thing he had. His attention snapped back to the hologram once it stabilized once more.

"I come seeking aid to a problem of most grave importance. Our world is known as an important center for trade and its richness of natural resources. The Incursean Empire, thwarted by their failure to rule earth have turned their attentions to our world. Our forces have thus far been able to hold them at bay, but they have a trump card which is steadily decreasing our forces."

The holoimage disappeared, only to reappear seconds later with an image of a group of strange creatures that resembled tiny chimeras of various aliens. No two seemed to be the same. "These creatures," the hologram explained, "are of unknown species and origin. They are mutations unlike any other we've ever seen before. No line of communication in the extranet has any data on them. Fortunately, the creatures seem to have a short lifespan; unfortunately, the short amount of time they do live, they contain enough destructive force to obliterate an entire platoon of my warriors without further aid."

Various images popped up depicting devastated cities in various stages of chaos and ruin with the strange creatures at their epicenter. Ben felt sick at the sight of all the destruction, but it was the familiarity of the creatures creating that destruction that was making his heart race in fear.

"I beg you, please help us to stop these beasts before they are used against other worlds!"

The message ended with an abrupt click and Rook frowned at it before carefully turning it over in his hands. "That is the end of it, Magister Tennyson," the Revonnahgander announced grimly.

Ben was far more troubled. To him, those things had looked strangely like miniature mix and matches of his Omnitrix's aliens. But who could possibly be creating them? Or better yet, who would be stupid enough to create them and give them to the _Incurseans_ as weapons to use?

"You ok, Ben? You look worried," his Grandpa suddenly asked, his hand gripping onto Ben's shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

The teen looked up into his grandfather's face for a moment, wondering if maybe his thoughts were way off. Then again, he usually trusted his gut and right now it was screaming at him that the Omnitrix was definitely involved. What he couldn't figure out was _how_ it was involved.

"Grandpa...is it just me or did those things look a lot like my aliens?" he wondered, gazing up at the older man's face. The worry in his green eyes said that this wasn't an assignment that he was likely to let go, despite the deal they had with the Incurseans for Ben to stay far away from their borders.

Rook had also noticed the strange phenomenon. "I agree, Ben. They seemed to be a bizarre amalgam of aliens you have used before. If that were the case, then maybe it would be best if we were to investigate this and see if we can possibly help the Takiyonians."

"When do we leave?" Ben asked excitedly. Any mission that involved butt kicking and saving the day was considered a good one to him. Those had been in short supply lately.

"I don't like it," Max said, his bushy brows furrowed in confusion. "The fact that the Incurseans are involved makes me a little uneasy. This could be a trap."

"Oh, c'mon! We can handle a few frogs, Grandpa!" Ben argued. "Besides, Rook and I are old pros at this Plumber detective work by now. We'll go in, kick butt, find out who's making those things and be back before you know it!"

"Well…I do have to tend to an escaped prisoner incident..."

_Escaped prisoner?_ Ben perked up at the thought but then immediately dismissed it; this was far more important. Besides, it was probably only Animo or some other B grade villain that would end up back in the Plumber prison within a week.

"Seriously, Grampa, just let us take care of it! Promise that I'll be careful and call for back up if I need it," Ben said with a grin.

"And I promise that I will look after him, Magister Tennyson," Rook swore, his lean form snapping into a textbook-perfect salute. "Allowing us to complete this mission will free your attention for more important matters."

The combined stares from both teens finally got Max to cave; the old man shook his head. "I hope I won't regret this, but...I'm counting on you two. Promise me you'll contact HQ if something goes wrong?"

"Promise," they echoed.

…...


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: Author ignores most of the laws of physics in this chapter and honestly does not care. Also, unbeta'd. Enjoy. :)

...

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><p>Takiyon III was a large red planet filled with a swirling purple atmosphere and a large amount of water. Rook's ship banked sharply as it began its entry descent, its two occupants braced for the turbulence typical to this kind of space travel.<p>

Ben, who was still not quite used to the speed and shakiness of the atmospheric re-entries and teleportations began to turn green, his eyes nearly crossing as he gripped the seatbelt strapped across his chest with rapidly whitening knuckles. The worst part of space travel was getting into a new planet's gravitational field and being drawn into it; it made his stomach turn and his mind whirl at the possibility of them crash landing somewhere strange. A particularly rough jolt had him releasing a small sound and trying unsuccessfully to stifle it before his older partner could suspect anything.

Rook, ever sensitive and courteous to others glanced over at the faint, choked moan coming from Ben's direction. "Ben, are you okay?"

The savior of the universe shifted his eyes to the blue-furred alien and glared. "Does it _look_ like I'm okay?!" When Rook shifted his full attention onto Ben's appearance and opened his mouth to reply, Ben gave a sharp shake of his head, which he immediately regretted afterward as his stomach churned. "Don't answer that. Just keep your eyes on the controls," he snapped nervously.

Of course, Rook may not know everything about human emotional cues, but he knew enough about Ben to be aware that something was up with his younger partner. A small smile flitted across his face, and he pointedly redirected his attention to the purple sky they were rapidly plunging through. "You do not have to be afraid. Everything is fine. The Proto-TRUK is very sturdy and we have done this dozens of times before."

"I am _not _scar-WHAT WAS THAT?!"

A series of hard shakes assaulted the ship then, and it began to rock as if being blown by the wind. Rook frowned and began to pull on the controls, causing the ship to spin wildly for a few seconds as it fought to regain its lost flight path. Ignoring the sharp yelp from beside him, he tapped on the control panel and pulled up a monitor. The screen began flashing a warning and zeroing in on various areas of the ship, indicating that something large was hampering its progress, but there was no clear visual to be seen. Was it possible that they had come across cloaked foes or another ship's tractor beam?

The ship shook once more, this time accompanied by the sound of bending metal.

Immediately, Ben was staring out the window, his eyes trying to spot what was wrong. His voice was still a bit shaky, but it was a bit more composed as he put on what Rook had dubbed his "hero face."

"Are we being attacked?"

"I am not sure. Nothing seems to be out of order, but the ship seems to have gained extra weight and is shifting its trajectory into enemy is most definitely not normal."

A flicker of color on the wing of the Proto-TRUK caught Ben's attention and he gazed at the spot in suspicion. As he watched, something large and doglike with grey fur, long, jagged claws and insectoid wings that shimmered in the light of the purple sky faded into his view. The creature looked in his direction, revealing jagged black lines that crossed its body and a single green eyeball rolled across its shoulders and upwards into the middle of its forehead. It lifted its head, revealing a set of gills on its neck that flared open before it opened its mouth and released an earsplitting screech into the air. The sound was suddenly joined by other obnoxiously loud wailings and screams that echoed from various points around the ship.

_It's like Wildmutt, Ghostfreak, Stinkfly and Echo Echo all in one…_

"Something tells me _that's_ not normal either," Ben said, his eyes wide and face ghostly pale as he pointed to the thing outside.

"Hang on!" Rook commanded. A quick jerk of the thruster handle sent them rocketing across the sky even faster and a subtle maneuver had the ship spinning in an attempt to dump their unwanted stowaways. Ben did as he was told and clutched his armrests, trusting that Rook knew what he was doing, but still not liking what was happening.

Several of the creatures fell past the window snarling, while a few stubbornly remained latched on. The one Ben had spotted earlier was actually clawing its way towards the cockpit, and Ben finally decided enough was enough.

"I'm gonna try and get rid of the stragglers," Ben said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Are you sure that is wise?" Rook wondered as he struggled to restore the ship's stability so that they could land safely.

In answer, Ben's hand slammed down on the Omnitrix. A flash of green light lit the interior of the ship and as Rook blinked the brightness from his eyes, a necrofriggian unfurled its wings.

"Big Chill!" It hissed, frost curling from its mouth before it phased through the wall of the ship.

"Ben!"

Whatever protests his partner had been planning to make were lost to the whoosh of wind as Ben appeared outside the ship. Several creatures screamed in his direction as he became tangible, and Ben breathed frosty vapor to try and get them to either let go or be frozen enough to drop off.

To his surprise, one of the creatures, which looked like a red, four armed Eatle with Brainstorm and Lodestar's claws for hands actually lowered the stunted horn on its head and fired several blasts of fire at him without even flinching at the wave of incoming ice.

Instinctively, Big Chill went intangible in order to safely dodge the projectiles. Thankfully, the hulking creature didn't seem to be able to detect him; unfortunately, that only made the creature fire its blazing projectiles in various directions hoping to strike its target. The ship now sported scorched marks along with the various dents, scratches, and claw marks the monsters had created.

Maybe these things had a weakness he could exploit? Another shiver of the ship beneath his thin feet made him inwardly panic; Rook was tough, but crashing a ship on a strange planet most definitely wouldn't be healthy for the guy.

"Alright, big guy, how's about you _chill out_," Ben quipped as he flew his ghostly form through the Eatle lookalike. The creature gave a confused grunt and worked its massive jaws as it shuddered. Ben directed the ice and watched as the creature began to thrash as it froze solid from the inside out.

"Now that's what I call an ice sculpture," Ben said with a hissing laugh.

His moment of distraction cost him; before he could resolidify, something struck him on the back, shocking him back into tangibility as he landed on the wing of the proto-TRUK. A heavy weight was coiled around him, restricting his wings. A brief attempt at phasing through the grip yielded the surprising fact that he _couldn't_. That was _so _not fair!

He could hear Rook's alarmed voice over the intercom, questioning him about the sudden shift of the ship's gravity.

"Little busy here, partner," Ben hissed as he continued to squirm.

High pitched squawking laughter from behind him made Ben wince. A sharp twist of his claws into something warm and leathery had his captor squawking in annoyance as he managed to jolt whatever was holding him loose. A sharp blast of ice caused an indignant shriek to ring out above him as the weight jerked off him completely.

He slid himself clear and looked back with a frown. In front of him stood a creature that looked like an enormous, brown-scaled Jetray with Astrodactyl's beaked face and a long, muscular tail that looked suspiciously like Humungousaur's. It had a three-footed claw with large, blunt digits covered in ice raised above the ship as it futilely tried to shake the ice off itself. It was no wonder he hadn't been able to move; that thing's foot was easily enough to dwarf even the muscular frame of Ben's necrofriggian form.

A low growl echoed from behind him, and Ben realized the creature from earlier had been attracted to this side of the ship by the noise of the fight.

The gray creature's gills flared and then its head turned in his direction; that disturbing green eye moved along the black tracks on its back before gliding onto its head once more and giving a single blink. Then the creature deeply inhaled and forcefully spewed a wad of green mucus in Big Chill's direction. Ben dodged the disgusting projectile, but his eyes widened in shock as the goo began to burn into the ship's metal like acid.

"Whoa," he breathed as he warily took in both creatures and backed away a bit. "That is some wicked dog breath, man."

Surprisingly the grey Wildmutt lookalike gave a toothy grin, long flecks of acidic green drool trailing down its chin.

"Heh, maybe I should call you Stinky Ghostmutt," Ben hissed, which caused the creature to give him a low growl.

The Astrodactyl lookalike (more like Jet Humungodactyl) had finally shaken the ice off itself and squawked angrily at Ben before its tail curved overhead and a beam of green light suddenly fired at Ben. The blow sent the necrofriggian reeling as he slid across the ship and slammed into the frozen Eatle lookalike's icy form. Its arms and head twitched at the force.

Ben rubbed his head with a groan as he took a moment to catch his breath. "Oww...cheap shot, man."

Squawking laughter met his ears and Ben glared as the overgrown bird lightly waved its tail at him. Were they...teasing him? Ghostmutt turned and scratched its feet against the ship as if kicking dirt at the hero and Ben gawked in disbelief. They so totally _were_! Those freaks were messing with the wrong guy!

Before he could even remember his current situation, Ben had slammed his thin black fingers across his chest and on the Omnitrix's dial. A flash of green light lit the area and Spidermonkey was screeching as he used his tail to anchor himself to the ship.

The grey mutant lunged and Ben dodged with a hastily shot web. The sound of screeching made him wince; the force of the creature's overshot lunge made it horribly loud as its claws grated against the ship's metal.

"Hey! You didn't even let me call out my name," the hero complained. Another acidic loogie was his answer and Ben scurried onto the underside of the ship to shoot web at the monster's paws, causing it to land on its face. As it struggled, a slight displacement of air was Ben's only warning before Spidermonkey's reflexes kicked in, saving him from being chomped by the other mutant.

"Hey, watch it birdbrain!" he screeched indignantly, waving three of his fists at the ugly reptilian creature.

The creature squawked and rose above him, its beady green eyes locked onto Spidermonkey's small form. Rook, finally seeing the beast, open fired on it just as the creature made another pass at Ben. Ben hadn't been expecting the creature to turn like that in midair in order to dodge Rook's weaponry; a crushing weight gripped his arms and torso, causing Ben to gasp as the creature squawked in victory over his capture.

Ben grunted and groaned as he tried and failed to extricate himself from the mutant's claw. The creature glared towards its foot at Ben, who was straining to overpower it.

Spidermonkey pounded his small fists against the creature's claw uselessly before a mischievous grin crossed his face as he managed to free his tail.

"Let's see how you deal with web in your eye you overgrown parrot," Ben said as he fired webbing across its face and into its eyes.

The alien-bird shrieked, tossing its head from side to side as its flight path began to sway dangerously off course. The ship suddenly lurched, ramming into the beast's side, causing it to lose its grip on Ben. Ben aimed a thumbs up at his partner through the glass as he squeezed from beneath the claw and climbed onto the alien bird's back. A well placed bit of webbing had the creature's wings locking together and it screamed in alarm as it began to plummet from the sky. Another shot of web onto the wing of the plane brought Ben swinging towards the proto-TRUK.

A loud buzzing caught his attention and he looked up to find the doggish creature bearing down on him from the sky.

"You can fly?! I thought those were just for decoration!" He cried, dodging another stinky acid ball. A shot of web muzzled the wildmutt lookalike briefly before the acidic drool around its mouth melted through the tough fiber.

"Ok, that didn't work out quite how I wanted it to." A familiar series of beeps sounded and Ben looked at his glowing chest in alarm. "Oh no, not now Omnitrix! Please just stay on for another minute!"

As usual, his pleading fell on deaf ears. A brief flash of green light heralded his return to human form and he suddenly was struggling to maintain his balance on the wing of the ship.

He was alone on top of a moving spaceship with a mutant that was trying to melt his face.

Great.

Acidic balls of smelly goo flew through the air and Ben hurriedly dodged before the ship tilted a bit and his balance failed him, causing him to land on his butt. A hiss drew his attention to his shoes and he watched as a tiny bit of green burned off the end of his shoelace.

"Too close," he muttered as he backpedaled away from the hole in the ship's side.

The mutant swung outward in its flight, keeping pace with the ship as it prepared to unleash another barrage of projectiles no doubt; its single green eye rotated from the forehead and onto its side to stare at Ben with eerie intensity before it widened. The creature banked sharply from the ship and Ben watched in confusion as it dove towards the ground as if fleeing.

"Yeah, you better run," Ben muttered in confusion as he scratched his head. Then he frowned. Why had the eye widened like that?

Pain exploded across his back as something smashed into him from behind and Ben felt his stomach lurch as he was sent flying over the side of the ship.

An instant later the sound of an explosion heralded the demise of one of the Proto-TRUK's engines. Faintly, he felt relief as he heard Rook's slightly strained voice from his communicator, demanding to know if he was ok.

The ache in his back intensified as he reached out to toggle his watch; thankfully he had stalled enough for it to charge for a single transformation.

He activated the watch and nearly cried in relief as he turned into Jetray. The pain in his wings was a bit worrying, but as least he wasn't going to go splat when he landed in the city below. Ben spread his wings as wide as he dared, hoping to catch an updraft in order to glide to safety. The twinge in his arms burned as he worked the muscles, but what was a little pain in the face of a very messy death?

A shadow passed above his own, but Ben was too busy avoiding alien treetops and skyscrapers to pay it much attention. A harsh squawk, all too familiar and far too close sounded from above and Ben turned his head to investigate. His vision was filled with bright green light as he came face to face with the creature's open maw filled with bright energy.

"This...is gonna hurt," he moaned just as the light exploded in his face, swooping in and claiming his consciousness.

...

* * *

><p>Rook watched in horror as Ben's very fragile, very <em>human <em>body came falling from a haze of smoke in a flash of green. His partner's eyes were sealed shut, and he was unmoving as he came limply plummeting from the sky dangerously near the top of a tall building's spiked spire.

"Ben! Ben?! Can you hear me? Please respond!" The sprawling city rushing up to meet Ben's falling form was getting a little too close for comfort. The sparking controls in Rook's hands refused to respond to his attempts to go save his friend's life; the dash flared a warning seconds before the emergency escape pod blasted Rook in the opposite direction of Ben.

"No! Ben! Ben, you _must _wake up!" Rook cried into his communicator.

The mutant bird he had believed to be incapacitated circled around and easily scooped up Ben's limp form seconds before his impending impalement, its claws oddly loose around the teen's unconscious form. It raised the claw holding Ben forward a bit and stared down as if inspecting the quiet form before lowering its foot and cargo, then took off as fast as it could away from Rook.

The Revonnahgander had never felt so useless in his life. He had promised Max. He had promised to keep Ben safe and to look after the younger boy.

And he had broken that promise in the blink of an eye.

If the Incurseans didn't kill Rook, then Max Tennyson sure would.


End file.
